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This project has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 613688

News

FoodIntegrity Scientific Opinion Videos

FoodIntegrity Work Package 1 has produced Scientific Opinions on difficult stakeholder derived issues that concern food fraud. 3 of the 8 Opinions have been publidhed and others are in the publication process. (VIEW THE PUBLISHED PAPERS).

Those opinion papers have now been turned into short explainer videos to give a taste of what one can read in the Scientific Opinions.

What’s in a name?

Hospitality & Catering News, June 2018Most chefs and many others in food service hold the notion of ‘provenance’ as important. It’s regarded as near synonymous with notions of ‘truth’, ‘integrity’ and ‘honesty’. As such it is a pivotal part of the quest for sustainability.

Fraud on a plate: over 3 600 tonnes of dangerous food removed from consumer market

EUROPOL communicates: Rotten meat, chemically coloured tuna and fake baby milk powder - these are just a small sampling of the products seized as part of the latest OPSON investigation into the presence of counterfeit and substandard food and beverage products on the market in Europe and beyond.

5th FoodIntegrity Conference - 14-15 November Nantes, France

The conference will take place in Nantes, France on 14th and 15th November 2018.

Registration for the 5th FoodIntegrity conference is open. This event will be the culmination of the 5-year project. Main outcomes will be presented with the aim to provide practical tools to participants, especially food industry members, for improving quality management in their organisation.

Public consultation on the next EU Research & Innovation programme

Dear research and innovation stakeholders,

On 10 January 2018, the European Commission launched a series of public consultations clustered by key policy areas, in preparation for the EU's next long-term budget post-2020 (MFF). Citizens, organisations and businesses can give their views online until 8 March 2018.

Your feedback is essential. This is THE moment to express your support, based on the EU added value of EU R&I programmes1, building on the success of Horizon 20202 and given the importance of research and innovation in extending the frontiers of knowledge, boosting Europe's productivity and competitiveness, addressing the grand societal challenges and sustaining our socio-economic model and values. It is important that these messages are clearly passed.

The public consultation on the Interim Evaluation of Horizon 2020 received over 3500 replies - a strong signal of your interest. Please mobilise your networks so that we gather even more views for this important consultation. Let’s make “Foster research and innovation across the EU” (dedicated box in the consultation questionnaire) stand out as a clear priority for the future.

I would like to thank you in advance for your support and your feedback.

Robert-Jan Smits

New technique can detect impurities in ground beef within minutes

November 2017 - UBC news: Food science students led by professor Xiaonan Lu used a laser-equipped spectrometer and statistical analysis to determine with 99 per cent accuracy whether ground beef samples included other animal parts. They were able to say with 80 per cent accuracy which animal parts were used, and in what concentration.

Their new method can accomplish all of this in less than five minutes, which makes it a potentially transformative food inspection tool for government and industry.

A commentary can be found here The full paper can be downloaded here, Scientific Reports

Communicated by web correspondent - Elena Maestri

6th FoodIntegrity Newsletter

6th FoodIntegrity Newsletter

This issue includes the industry, DG Health & Food Safety and FAO perspectives on the project as well as information on an array of related projects and an update on one of the new projects' activities.

With many more dates for the diary (including the Final FI Conference) and training opportunities.

Join the discussion by completing the survey!

We are looking for various perspectives on food integrity issues in companies or organizations supplying the European food market. By consulting stakeholders we aim to discover the feasibility of a system for information sharing to prevent and detect food fraud. We kindly invite you to participate in this survey, which is the first of three rounds. Participation in the first round does not obligate you to join the other rounds.

Identify what is needed to ensure effective collaboration amongst key stakeholders (i.e. industry, regulators, law enforcement, and academia) to help prevent food fraud incidents and support the integrity of the food supply chain globally, and foster a harmonized regulatory environment in this area.

Initiate the development of a universal food fraud prevention framework to support international standards such as the Codex Alimentarius in the future.

MSU’s Food Fraud Initiative Survey

MSU’s Food Fraud Initiative, the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and the GMA Science Education Foundation (SEF) have partnered to conduct an online survey to gather important new information on Food Fraud, Food Integrity, Food Authenticity, Food Fraud, and Economically Motivated Adulteration. This survey is a follow-up from the 2010 GMA Consumer Product Fraud report. The results will be used in part to support the work of stakeholders addressing this issue, including the new Codex Alimentarius (CODEX) Electronic Working Group (EWG) reviewing Food Fraud, Food Authenticity, and Food Integrity.

The survey will be conducted in two phases. Phase I will report preliminary findings from survey responses collected from Tuesday, September 21 to Wednesday, October 13. Phase II will be a final report with information gathered through Tuesday, October 31, 2017. The average time to complete the survey is 22 minutes.

Make your voice heard. Engage in the foundational research that will help shape the future of food law and specifically Food Fraud prevention guidelines. Also, please feel free share or post this announcement and survey link. FFI.

John SpinkDirector and Assistant ProfessorFood Fraud InitiativeMichigan State University

September Issue of the JRC Food Fraud Report

The September issue of the JRC Food Fraud Report report is now out. Please click on the link below to view the report.:

The OLEUM project has developed a questionnaire with the aim of identifying information about current weaknesses in the olive oil regulations and analytical methods and to gather information about emerging frauds. In order to reach these goals, we need to collect information and opinions from many stakeholders involved in the olive oil sector.

The questionnaire will take only about 5 minutes and your participation would be very valuable for the project.

Note, you are not required to reply to all the questions, but only to those that are directly related to your job. The results will be made available and presented in a completely anonymous way.

Lessons from Food Fraud 2017

New Food- May 2017 Following New Food’s inaugural Food Fraud conference held in Manchester at which industry leaders gathered to discuss the challenges that the reality of food fraud presents today’s society, we take a look at the lessons learned from the event both on a UK and global level.“Food fraud is a global issue,” Professor Chris Elliott of Queen’s University Belfast, asserted as he opened the event. From Professor Elliott’s opening statement, an internationally-known leader in food integrity, it became clear that we criminally under-appreciate the scale of the threat posed by food fraud and the extent to which it occurs and touches each aspect of the supply chain.

COFFEE - Connected to origin

July 24th, 2017 - Fresh Cup Magazine

Several new technologies are impacting how coffee is grown, processed, transported, and sold—and hold the potential to link farmers with socially and environmentally minded consumers in completely new ways. Technological innovations are combining the latest in data science and materials science with existing strategies such as integrated pest management (IPM) to help farmers lower their input costs, reduce the risk of crop loss, and bring more financial security to rural communities.

New IAEA Project Looks at Portable Detection Equipment to Help Prevent Food Fraud

From IAEA - International Atomic Energy Agency:

The project will develop methods for using such hand-held devices to test food authenticity, including guidelines for analyses and a comprehensive database of authentic reference samples – a critical requirement for reliable assessments of food provenance and composition.

Europol warns fake products on the rise across EU

31 -7-2017 OliveOilTimes

The 2017 Situation Report on Counterfeiting and Piracy in the European Union, a joint report by Europol and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), includes a short section on the misuse of organic and certified origin food labels. It noted that in 2015 there was growth in the counterfeiting of such labels and that the practice is expected to continue.

Fake food and alcohol seizures at EU borders jump

Customs authorities detained more than 41 million fake and counterfeit products at the EU's external border in 2016 with a value of more than €670m. 13% of that were foodstuffs.

Foodstuff and alcoholic beverages were among the categories with the highest increases (>50%) compared to 2015. 80% of all fake goods were from China which was the country with the highest source of fake foodstuffs (94.16%).

1.3k tonnes of rotten food discovered in UAE’s latest food fraud case

The food was part of nearly 16,500 tonnes of goods seized from illegal markets as part of an official crackdown this year. Much of it had been picked up from dumpsters. The UAE has been witnessing a recent increase in instances of food fraud. Shortly before the markets discovery, police in Ras Al Khaimah raided a factory that was found to be selling expired meat.

NanoTracer: Smart universal tool for DNA barcoding

"Is the food on the shelf really that what is written on the label? Its DNA would give it away, but the DNA barcoding technology, which can be used for this purpose, is labor-intensive. Now scientists have introduced a simplified assay coined NanoTracer. Combining DNA barcoding with nanotechnology, it requires neither expensive tools nor extremely skilled personnel, but just the naked eye to identify a color change."

Fera Science: new method for identification of gelatine

May 30, 2017 - Fera Science has developed the GenSpec method based on high resolution LC-MS/MS to identify the species of origine of gelatine, bovine or porcine. The system detects differences in amino acid sequences of gelatin.

TV Parma on the FoodIntegrity 2017 Conference

CODEX Alimentarius - Defining Food Fraud

Prof John Spink reports on the meeting of the Codex Alimentarius Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (CCFICS)What is Food Integrity? Food Authenticity? Food Fraud? What is an ‘adulterant’ and how is it different from a CODEX defined ‘contaminant’? Does Food Fraud only cover adulterant-substances? Is counterfeiting included? Is Food Fraud the same thing as Food Integrity or Food Authenticity? Is it only a CODEX matter if there is a there is a public health threat? Where else in CODEX are some aspects of Food Fraud covered? Is it completely covered? How much or how little? These are all unanswered questions.

FOODINTEGRITY publication: Meat authenticity

Many instances of food fraud are associated with meat, claiming one species of animal to be another or mixing a cheaper meat with a more expensive one in a processed product and declaring it to be a high quality product. Mixed meats can be detected by DNA testing, immunoassay and mass spectrometry but a group of scientists in Italy has bemoaned the lack of proper reference materials that will facilitate accurate measurement of the degree of contamination.

Publication in the journal FOOD CONTROL, vol. 74, April 2017, pages 61-69HighlightsMyofibrillar proteins were extracted from Bolognese sauce and submitted to tryptic digestion.Marker peptides for beef and pork meat were identified using LC-MS/MS.Calibration curves were constructed at different beef and pork percentages in the sauce.The method was accurate in detecting beef and pork amount in blind samples.

Communicated by Elena Maestri - FoodIntegrity web correspondent

First Scientific Opinion Published

The first Scientific Opinion comissioned by WP1 of the FoodIntegrity Project has beeen published in the Trends in Food Science & Technology Journal.

A fishy business – do you know your haddock from your whiting?

With analysis of 200 studies from 55 countries on every continent except Antarctica, the group detected seafood fraud in almost every investigation. This incorrect labelling pervades every part of the seafood supply chain from landing, packaging and processing to wholesale, retail, distribution, import and export. Sixty-five per cent of the studies showed clear economic motivation for the deliberate mislabelling.

Fake Scotch whisky removed from market

Rare Whisky 101, a whisky analyst, broking and investment company, has said it has found a haul of fake Scotch of very high quality that has been in the auction market for some time.

The bottles include a Laphroaig 1903 (pictured) – long reputed to be one of the oldest whiskies from that distillery in existence – worth £100,000 and two sets of Fine & Rare Macallan worth £500,000 and £250,000 respectively. Altogether the Scotch was worth around £850,000.

Spink and Moyer on Economic motivated food fraud

Economically motivated adulteration of food, what most people would call “food fraud,” has been estimated to cost the food industry $30 to 40 billion per year. John Spink and Douglas Moyer, assistant professors at Michigan State University, and leaders of the Food Fraud Initiative, have identified seven distinct kinds of food fraud.

UCLA study reveals fraud on fish in sushi restaurants

From UCLA Newsroom, January 12th, 2017

Next time you go out for sushi in Los Angeles, don’t bother ordering halibut. Chances are it’s not halibut at all.

A new study from researchers at UCLA and Loyola Marymount University checked the DNA of fish ordered at 26 Los Angeles sushi restaurants from 2012 through 2015, and found that 47 percent of sushi was mislabeled.

January 2nd, 2017 - DairyReporter.comFrance rolls out its two-year trial for mandatory country of origin labelling (COOL) for meat and dairy in prepared foods, this month.The initiative concerns ready meals with a certain amount of meat or milk in them. If dishes contain more than 8% meat and 50% milk their origins must be mentioned on the label.Only meals with 100% French meat or French milk can contain the label “Produit d’origine Française”.

In the USA - The White House Is Cracking Down on Seafood Fraud

09-12-2016....A recent report conducted by seafood watchdog group Oceana found that one in five seafood samples tested worldwide were mislabeled....To reign in this sort of rampant deception, the Obama administration is implementing a program to help prevent illegal fishing and seafood fraud across the United States. The final rule announced yesterday directs the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to install a Seafood Import Monitoring Program that will track about 25 percent of imported seafood from the fishing boat where the originates until it reaches U.S. borders.

Whisky Single Malt Fraud

Investigators found that a bottle of 113-year-old Laphroaig purportedly worth thousands of pounds was a fraud. The sealed bottle contained a blend of whisky made between 2007 and 2009. The value of rare vintage whisky, produced more than a century ago on the Scottish isle of Islay, has soared in recent years as Chinese collectors and other investors have poured into the market.

PhD positions available across Europe

FoodSmartphone provides a unique mix of exciting local PhD research covering all aspects of smart-phone based screening tools plus a wealth of network-wide science & innovation and transferable skills training.

Wageningen University & Research are looking for candidates that (will) have a recent MSc and are willing to move to another country (both are strict Marie Curie eligibility criteria).

USP seeking comments on draft of guidance for non-targeted methods

Non-targeted methods for food authenticity and food fraud testing have been a hot topic in regulatory and industrial fields but confusions on terminology, procedure and validation have hindered further application.

An expert panel on Non-Targeted Methods at US Pharmacopeia has drafted a Guidance On Developing and Validating Non-Targeted Methods For Adulteration Detection.

Comments and questions should be submitted to Kenny Xie, scientific liaison at kyx@usp.org.

Authenticity and origin of Whisky and Scotch

SpectroscopyNOW.com reports:Cheminformatics can be used to process data from headspace mass-spectrometry (HS-MS), mid-infrared (MIR) and UV–Vis spectroscopy and so ascertain the authenticity and origin of Irish, Spanish, Bourbon, Tennessee Whisky and Scotch, according to a study published by researchers from Poland and Spain. Their approach is quick and simple and requires no pre-preparation of samples.

Read the article hereSpectrochim Acta A 2017, 173, 849-853: "Authentication of whisky due to its botanical origin and way of production by instrumental analysis and multivariate classification methods"Download the full paper here

New FOODINTEGRITY publication: holistic approach

Food Research International 89:463–470 (2016)doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2016.08.028

-A holistic approach in food safety is demonstrated using Bayesian network and several data sources.-A Bayesians Network was developed for food fraud based on food fraud records in RASFF and EMA and selected drivers.-The developed BN can be used for scenario analysis and prediction for future events.

EU - NEW - monthly report on food fraud and authenticity

EU Science hub - October 24th, 2016To support health and consumer protection, the JRC conducts research, among others, on food authenticity and quality. In this context, the JRC has launched a monthly summary of articles on food fraud and adulteration, with the objective of informing stakeholders of potential fraud cases in the global feed/food chain, giving them the opportunity for taking actions to counter fraud.

Report on the results of the EUROPOL INTERPOL OPSON V

27 October 2016

Condiments top the list of seized counterfeit food in this year’s food fraud operation, reveals a joint Europol-INTERPOL report published today presenting the results of OPSON V which saw the largest seizure of counterfeit or substandard food and beverages to date.

Seafood in Europe — A food system approach for sustainability

European Environment Agency

This report builds on a food system approach to explore the knowledge base, and the mesh of actors and activities that enable the EU to produce, trade and consume seafood. It then further assesses the implications of such a food system analysis for EU policy and knowledge development as a means to transform Europe's food system in line with sustainability goals. The report identifies three complementary pathways in the current EU food and seafood related policy framework, and the related knowledge base that can help support a more functional system.

Webpage for downloading the report: click hereComment on the report: click here

Submitted by Elena Maestri - FoodIntegrity web correspondent

Curcumin Suppliers "Guaranteeing" Natural Curcumin

October 14th, 2016 - Curcumin Suppliers "Guaranteeing" Natural Curcumin Is Not Synthetic by Using Carbon Dating

When natural curcumin is tested using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), these three curcuminoids register as specific peaks. The problem is that adulterers are now able to create synthetic curcumin that will also register these same three peaks. “The synthetic adulteration unfortunately is difficult to find by regular analysis as it does not leave any chemical fingerprint which can be analyzed, neither can it be detected by a DNA test,” said Sabinsa’s Pande.Read the full article from Nutritional Outlook here

Submitted by Elena Maestri - FoodIntegrity web correspondent

Food scientists: We can detect much more food fraud

Public Release: 5-Oct-2016Food scientists: We can detect much more food fraud

Researchers from the Department of Food Science at the University of Copenhagen point out that 'non-targeted' methods of analysis can reveal far more food fraud than we are currently detecting

The biggest fraud in olive oil

The biggest fraud in olive oil today is leading consumers to believe it’s all "fake." Some olive oil marketers are casting aspersions on all imported olive oil, leaving consumers bewildered and confused. Where do these claims of olive oil fraud come from?

Fake Food Scandals - A Bad Year For Food Lovers

Deceptive Dishes: Seafood Swaps Found Worldwide

Seafood fraud is a serious global problem that undermines honest businesses and fishermen that play by the rules. It also threatens consumer health and puts our oceans at risk. As global fishing becomes more expansive and further industrialized, seafood fraud and its related impacts could get even worse. This update of Oceana’s 2014 review of seafood fraud studies demonstrates the global scope of the problem, but also reveals some promising trends due to recent regulations in the European Union (EU) that are increasing transparency and traceability as well as addressing illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing.

Matis in the news about fish authenticity

If the cod you ordered at the restaurant tasted like ling, or the monkfish resembled cusk, don’t for a moment suspect your taste buds of lying. If the results of a recent study are anything to go by, there is a 22 percent chance you were neither served cod nor monkfish, regardless of what the menu promised.

Matís, an Icelandic food and biotech institute, did a study of 22 Icelandic restaurants as part of a larger European research project. The results reveal that ordering from a menu may resemble sea angling: you don’t know for sure what fish will swim in your direction or end up on your plate. In 22 percent of cases, customers did not receive the type of fish they ordered....

Olive Oil Scandal Uncovered in France

Olive Oil Scandal Uncovered in FranceAnother major olive oil scandal, this time in France, was reported by La Provence, in the famous Provence region known as being one of the best for quality olive oil production.

According to the report, between September 2014 and January 2015, 120 tons of Spanish olives were introduced in the mills in the region before the oil produced was put in bottles and sold under prestigious labels and entitled to the AOP (appellation d’origine protégée) designation that is supposed to certify the origin of the products.

Interesting video on food fraud detection

VIDEO from American Chemical Society published August 18th 2016...Food authentication helps ensure that our cheese, olive oil and other foods are the real deal, and that they don't contain unwanted adulterants. To do so, scientists employ a variety of analytical techniques to identify chemical signs of legitimate food.....

Plastic rice as food fraud

In 2011 reports began circulating in media across South East (SE) Asia that artificial (plastic) rice was being produced in China, which was subsequently being sold in towns such as Taiyuan in Shaanxi province.

EU wine and spirit sector loses €1.3bn a year to fakes

July 29, 2016 - "Securing industry" reports about frauds in the wine and spirit sector.

EU wine and spirits companies are losing a staggering €1.3bn a year as a result of the trade in fakes, a new report reveals.

Produced by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), the report details the economic cost of IP infringements to the sector, claiming that 4.4 per cent of legitimate sales of spirits and 2.3 per cent of wine sales are lost each year to counterfeits.

Executive Summary of the Global Food Safety Conference 2016

The Executive Summary of the GFSI Global Food Safety Conference of 2016 on "The Global Food Safety Vision: Making the Change" has been made available

"The scope of issues covered included scientific, political, operational and technical. Some speakers got right into the detail, throwing light onto incredible subjects like genomics technology and the power of Big Data. Others shared a strategic big picture on our globally connected culture that is changing everything for companies, governments and consumers."

Olive oil in the USA

From "FiveThirtyEight" a comment on oilve oil frauds.

You may have heard by now that the olive oil in your kitchen cupboard may be an impostor. After a 2010 report found that 69 percent of imported olive oil in the U.S. failed to meet international standards, thousands of news stories were published, often incorrectly describing the presence of “fake” olive oils in grocery stores.

New FOODINTEGRITY publication

NEW PUBLICATION: Prediction of food fraud type using data from Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) and Bayesian network modelling by Yamine Bouzembrak, Hans J.P. Marvin

Food Control 61:180-187 (2016) doi:10.1016/j.foodcont.2015.09.026

-Food fraud notifications in the RASFF database was analysed in the period 2000–2013.-A BN model was developed to predict the type of food fraud notifications in RASFF.-The BN model could predict 80% of the fraud types correctly.

Food fraud shoud be prosecuted under criminal law - FoodDrinkEurope

Food fraud compromising the safety of products and damaging public health should be prosecuted under criminal law, according to FoodDrinkEurope. In a position paper on food fraud, the trade group said....

Everything we love to eat is a scam

In his new book, “Real Food Fake Food,” author Larry Olmsted exposes the breadth of counterfeit foods we’re unknowingly eating. After reading it you’ll want to be fed intravenously for the rest of your life.

New publication: Casting A Wider Net

A paper by Petter Olsen published on The Analytical Scientist.

"When fighting food fraud, there are problems that analytical science alone cannot solve. We must work together to take a more inclusive and multidisciplinary approach that ensures true food integrity."

EU urged to recognise authenticity progress by food operators

Recommendations on how the public and private sector can promote integrity and authenticity in the food chain have been made at a conference. Food operators also called on EU Commission and national authorities to recognise private initiatives in the area.More than 100 participants from competent authorities, official laboratories, the European Commission, food businesses including trading companies and consumers' organisations, attended the event.

Scientists Decode Olive Tree Genome

Researchers from the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), the Real Jardín Botánico (CSIC-RJB) and the Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico (CNAG-CRG) decoded the olive tree genome by using a 1,300-year-old specimen belonging to the Spanish Farga variety as a reference.

Thinking like a food fraudster

Thinking like a food fraudster - “Attack”

June 21, 2016Glenn Taylor

This is the second article, in a series of 3, focussing on thinking like a food fraudster and is based on research with EU partners (FLEP), TiFSiP, academics, enforcement and members of the food industry.

Food pathogen detection via handheld 'nanoflower' biosensor

At present, harmful pathogens in food are mostly only discovered when people get sick. Earlier detection - preferably before food reaches consumers - could prevent many cases of foodborne illness and save the cost and effort involved in food recalls. Now, a team working toward solving this problem has developed a portable biosensor based on "nanoflowers" that detects harmful bacteria.

Oceana’s report analyzes scientific studies, government documents and news reports since 2001 that identify examples of seafood fraud (species substitution and mislabeling) and highlights how the Obama administration’s proposed traceability rule falls short in fighting seafood fraud within the U.S. Specifically, the proposed rule does not increase transparency for the majority of the seafood sold in the U.S., and should be expanded to include all seafood and extended through the full supply chain.

Fake Jellyfish

Jellyfish is very popular food commodity in China, where it is sliced and served as salad, particularly along the southern and eastern coasts. Police have raided several workshop where they found fake jellyfish which was made by mixing chemicals which tested for high levels of aluminium. Police think that the syndicates made more than 170,000 yuan (£18,100; $26,100) in profits in a year of production.

Punjab Food Authority's Seizures

Punjab Food Authority seized around 3,000kg of sub-standard chili powder which was mixed with artificial colour, oil, rice flour and bran. Water Bottling plants were closed for using dirty botles while some Milk Shops were foudn to be for selling adulterated milk.

Four year jail term and a $473,000 fine for tainted cooking oil – 26 March 2016

Taiwanese businessman and ex-chairman of Wei Chian Foods Corp has been jailed and fined for his company’s sale of falsely labelled products and adulterated food. With this, the course also indicted 12 others, where 11 received jail terms and only one was acquitted. The Ting Hsin International group, part of which was Wei Chuan Foods Corp, has been in Taiwanese news for several years following allegations of selling products that were not suitable for human consumption.

An estimated half of all vodka sales in Russia come from illegal websites selling it at but prices. The increase in hospitalizations and death resulting from the consumption of alcohol purchased on the internet has prompted Russian authorities to take action. More than 150 web sites have been taken down and in the past 6 months over 250 lawsuits have been filed.

£15,000 fine for lacing lamb mince with cheap beef – 12 April 2016

On April 1st, the Trafford Magistrates Court found the Master Halal Meat butchers guilty on two counts of food fraud and fined them £15,000 for mixing beef into a lamb mince in order to save money. The discovery of the fraud occurred when a bakery was found to have lamb mince patties that contained only 50% lamb, they pointed out their supplier to be Master Halal Meat butcher.

Another fake baby formula scandal in China – 10 April 2016

There are still 3’300 cans of fake baby formula unaccounted for in China, where 9 arrests have recently been made with regards to this matter. The fake baby formula sold to four provinces in China was produced by repackaging local cheap formula into foreign brand name boxes. The food safety commission said that although the formula was found to be safe, the agency will have to further improve the food safety mechanism and strengthen regulation in the industry.

Israel’s Police along with the Ministry of Health Division of Enforcement and Inspection have warned against counterfeit beverages masquerading under the Vodka Stopka, KB Brandy, and Hyajka brands. Bottles of these alcoholic beverages were seized at a number of small stores in the Rishon Lezion and Tel Aviv areas. Laboratory tests conducted on the seized beverages showed high levels of methanol, while others were found to contain brucine (a chemical that has similar characteristics to strychnine).

Australia’s Oregano Substitute – 05 April 2016

Dried Oregano being padded with substitute olive and sumac leaves and sold to unsuspecting customers is nothing new to us, but was a shock to the Australian consumers. Laboratory tests revealed that products contained anywhere between 10 to 50% of actual oregano. Some retailers have pulled their products until they can find alternative suppliers, while others are even offering refunds.

OPSON V – 30 March 2016

With the aims of identifying and disrupting the organized crime networks behind the trafficking in fake goods and enhancing cooperation between the involved law enforcement and regulatory authorities, operation Opson V has been another success. From contaminated sugar to dyed olives, to counterfeit alcohol, worldwide arrests were made and investigations continue.

Tougher Penalties in Italy for Olive Oil Fraud – 01 March 2016

Italian government will now finalise a version of a legislative decree that ensures that criminal law prevails over administrative sanctions when it comes to olive oil fraud. This decree is intended to regulate penalties for counterfeiting olive oil and mislabelling its origins. The commission also voted in favour of stronger sanctions on repeat offenders, forcing them to stop production for up to six months.

Punishment for Cheese offenses – 09 March 2016

Universal Cheese & Drying Inc. and International Packing LLC along with one of their corporate officers have pleaded guilty in federal court for selling “real Parmesan and Romano cheeses” that contained high amounts of cellulose and other fillers. The 2 cheese types in question have a standard of identity and are regulated by the US FDA, and after a former plant manager tipped off the authorities, the investigation into the companies proved fruitful. The Department of Justice issued a formal statement saying that food safety was not an issue in this case, but they were able to try the companies on the account of passing adulterated products into interstate commerce as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Prodotto Italiano! Or is it? – 19 February 2016

The MEP of the Socialist and Democrat party, Nicola Danti is calling for an EU action to eliminate Italian sounding names of food that not only hurt the Italian producers but are considered to be “an odious and unfair commercial practice”. A 2003 report into the sales of products with Italian sounding names estimated their value at €18 billion in the USA alone, while more recent figures cited by Danti reveal that the cost to Italian producers may be around €70 billion. The same reports found that products with Italian sounding names can fetch an average 51.2% more than standard food products. Other countries’ products also fall into this category, such as Greek Yoghurt, which can be produced anywhere in the world.

Woody Parmesan – 16 February 2016

Cellulose, a perfectly edible and safe wood pulp that is used as an additive, seems to be reaching unacceptable levels in grated cheese products. Certain reports claim that less than 40 % of grated cheese is actually a cheese product, while it is estimated that 20 % of hard Italian cheeses in the US are mislabelled. The FDA is investigating and prosecuting cases of cheese fraud since their surprise visit to the Castle Cheeses Inc. factory in 2012, where a combination of cheap substitutes and fillers were being packaged as 100% real parmesan. On the other hand, Italian producers are fighting against the food manufacturers in the US who use their names of cheeses and Italian flags to sell American made cheese.

Call for Voluntary Country of Origin Labelling Fails – 09 February 2016

Last month, the French minister of Agriculture announced plans to make country of origin labelling of processed foods mandatory, but urged manufacturers to provide this information voluntarily in the meantime. The recent, overall results of the survey of food, found that beef products fared the best at 50% of Bolognese sauces and 82% of frozen meals did contain this labelling. While other meat products, such as chicken and pork, did not do so well. 74% of chicken products and 57% of pork products had no labelling at all, while chicken and pork sandwiches were the highest category at 92% unlabelled.

Bubble, Bubble, Champagne in trouble – 08 February 2016

Italian financial police found the site on the border between Selvazzano and Abano Terme near Padova, where 8 people and thousands of bottles of sparkling wine were discovered. The sale of the fake champagne had the potential to earn €1.8 million. With the upcoming Valentine’s Day, the sales of such products would have been very popular and the risk of fraud more prevalent.

“Lobster” on the menu? – 08 February 2016

A small survey of restaurant lobster dishes was performed by the Inside Edition in the US and the results reveal just how much people are being misled. Of the 28 restaurants visited, 35 % of their lobster dishes contained cheap substitutes. Lobster rolls made from whiting, lobster bisque soup made with langostino, and lobster salads made of a mixture of whiting, Pollock and sometimes a bit of lobster.

Ho Chi Minh City’s Fake Beef – 05 February 2016

Ho Chi Minh City’s authorities have confiscated and ordered the destruction of 1,930 kilograms of pork that was either already “processed” or going to be “processed” to look like beef. Cow blood along with sodium metabisulfite was used by the shop owner to sell the meat as beef for over 5 to 6 US Dollars per kilogram.

16.5 Million Indian Rupees collected in food adulteration fines – 04 February 2016

The State Government in Hyderabad has reportedly booked 266 cases of food adulteration and fined traders of such food 16.5 Million Indian Rupees (over €200,000). They are getting ready to set up a fast track court to deal with theses cases in order to curb the rampant adulteration. More food safety officers are to be appointed as the Health Minister stated that there was a shortage of staff to ensure the Food Safety Act is effectively implemented and enforced.

Hazardous Coloured Olives and more – 04 February 2016

The fraud ring, which was estimated to be turning over €13 million, possessed false documentation attesting that the Spanish and Greek extra virgin olive oil was of Italian origin. Over the past two years, there have been over 12,500 inspections in the olive oil sector, and more than 50 companies investigated in order to regulate the table olive sales. With the cooperation of several different agencies, 10 tons of hazardous olives were also seized. The colouring agent used has been labelled illegal for use in food in the EU and harmful to human health.

UK’s first universal food traceability scheme – 03 February 2016

Farmers in the UK are set to launch the first food traceability scheme on 19th February 2016. Primary producers will be able to create a “producer passport and profile” and invite all intermediaries and retailers to contribute to it so that there is a visible supply chain. A unique traceability code will be generated for every batch, and then validated through the entire supply chain. Farmers are hoping that this scheme will not only help in ensuring consumer confidence in food but also support sustainable farming.

Egyptian committee for food safety law – 26 January 2016

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has instructed the Egyptian Food Safety Authority and other boards to form a committee that develops food safety laws and monitors the food market. The head of the Egyptian Food Safety Authority, Hussein Mansour, had admitted that there is a crisis in the food market and that only 20% of food is produced in factories that comply with the very outdated regulations surrounding food. Mansour added, “The new law will eliminate the problem of multiple parties conducting lab exams to test food products and will regroup them under one food safety committee allowed by law to carry out tests and analyses without referring to any other body. The committee would also enjoy full independence in implementing its job. This would forbid any attempts to deceive citizens in the quality of food products offered to them.”

A report from the Environmental officers to the Glasgow City Council states that the Glasgow food businesses remain at risk of food crime from elsewhere in the food chain. Recent allegations investigated by the health officers include meat supply by unregistered traders, meat supplied without any health marks and trading of meal from unmarked vans. The report mentioned a case in which a tonne of meat was confiscated from 2 butcher shops in the city. A Glasgow city council spokesperson states that there is a project in plan to give people further confidence in the food they are consuming.

Coordinated EU monitoring to assess the authenticity of fish and honey – 21 January 2016

DG SANTE with the scientific support of JRC-Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements organised coordinated testing across EU Member States to detect food fraud of fish and honey. Preliminary results revealed that 6% of fish samples did not conform to the labelled species, while 19% of honey samples did not comply with the marketing standard. Further testing of honey will be completed and results available before summer 2016.

44.9% of samples failing tests – 18 January 2016

Meerut, India. Out of the total of 289 samples collected by the Food Safety and Drugs administration over the past nine months, 130 have failed the tests for adulteration. 118 cases have been registered against offenders selling substandard products and the agency is determined on delivering monthly checks as well as targeted testing on festive occasions.

The Azure Restaurant & Bar located at Toronto’s Intercontinental Hotel has failed three menu inspections by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. An employee tipped off the agency about the restaurant’s misleading of customers by selling skirt steak as the very expensive Wagyu, regular mozzarella as the revered buffalo and more. Investigations continued for 2 years between 2013 and 2015 revealing that the restaurant was not making the necessary changes.

Gelatine filled shrimp heads - 06 January 2016

An on-going problem in China has not yet been solved by the Chinese food authorities. Shrimp, whose heads are filled with gelatine for an increase in weight, is being sold on the Chinese market. Authorities are unsure if any of this shrimp is exported outside of China, and many are concerned whether at some point in time this gelatine will be substituted by cheaper, inedible, industrial gels.

The Italian FBI of food – 03 January 2016

Easily, half of all extra virgin olive oil sold in the supermarkets of Italy does not meet the legal grades for extra virgin oil, while up to 75% to 80% of extra virgin olive oil in the US is fake. Journalist, Tom Muller, who had done many pieces on food fraud, stated that the fraudulent food profit margins can be three times better than cocaine. On Jan 03rd 2016, a 60 minute report by correspondent, Bill Whittaker, was aired in the US. The aptly titled show “Agromafia” talks about the $16 billion a year enterprise and the mafias involvement in all aspects of the food chain from farm to fork.

3rd FoodIntegrity Newsletter

FI project highlights include the summary of the Milan (Lodi) EXPO 2015 and RAFA 2015. The newsletter also contains an update on the FI Knowledge Base, a brief discussion on the limits of analytical methods in the "Opinion Corner" and more dates for the diary.

Registration Open for the 3rd FoodIntegrity Conference

To submit your abstract for oral and poster presentations for the conference please click HERE

MSU provides a definition for food fraud in the Food Chemistry Journal – 15 December 2015

Michigan State University’s research team lead by Jon Spink has introduced the topic of food fraud in the current issue of Food Chemistry Journal. The unbiased and peer-reviewed definition of food fraud provided in this article has been translated into Russian, Korean and Chinese. The effect of food fraud on consumer confidence as well as the economic effect on the companies is detrimental. One recent example is Wal-Mart in China, whose donkey meat was tainted with fox meat. Wal-Mart, looking to recover from this latest scandal, helped sponsor a food fraud course led by MSU and translated into Mandarin.

42 Bottles of Vodka – 09 December 2015

Lee Edmund Spensley, a manager of one of Middlesbrough’s nightclubs was fined after inspectors found 42 bottles of counterfeit Glen’s Vodka on the premises in October last year. Middlesbrough Council trading standards along with police officers were acting on intelligence, notably that the bottles on display had been reversed so that the back label showed while other bottles were on display so that the label could be seen. Testing of the contents of the bottles revealed that the alcoholic strength of the counterfeit merchandise was too low to be labelled as vodka. “The vodka that was seized was tested by the trademark holder.”

India’s growing problem with food fraud – 08 December 2015

According to FSSAI, of the 74,010 samples collected across India this year, nearly 20% were found to contravene laws. Many of the fraud cases were filed and resulted in convictions as well as $1.7 Million US in fines. A senior official stated that milk and oil were majorly affected and that they will be starting a campaign to ensure all states are monitoring for food adulteration.

Lobster rolls lacking lobster – 07 December 2015

Convictions have been handed out by San Diego City’s Attorney Office against sushi restaurants selling “lobster rolls” that contained no lobster at all. In most cases the lobster was substituted by crawfish and Pollock along with other various types of less expensive seafood. When a follow up investigation was conducted by the city’s investigator and state Department of Fish and Wildlife, the restaurants were not able to provide evidence of any lobster on the premises. Eight operators pleaded guilty to the offenses while one restaurant went out of business.

There’s money in honey – 07 December 2015

Extensive sampling of honey was carried out in 28 EU member states as well as Switzerland and Norway as part od a new regime to determine the extent of food fraud in high-risk foods. In the four checks to determine honey fraud (physio-chemical parameters, source, sugar content and ‘other labelling aspects’), 19% of samples were found to be non-compliant. An additional 13% of samples were classified as being unusual or questionable, which in total would mean that 32% may be failing to be compliant with EU laws.

RELEASED TODAY: 3rd FoodIntegrity Newsletter

FI project highlights include the summary of the Milan (Lodi) EXPO 2015 and RAFA 2015. The newsletter also contains an update on the FI Knowledge Base, a brief discussion on the limits of analytical methods in the "Opinion Corner" and more dates for the diary.

Food Fraud Punishments in 2016 – 07 December 2015

From the 1st of June next year, the worst food fraud offenders will be fined 10% of their annual turnover, rather than the €20 thousand maximum fee previously imposed. According to the State Secretary, the low fine was not a deterrent for fraud, as it would simply be factored into the fraudulent products prices. The Commodities act, which deals with products already in stores, has had its fines increased in April to € 810 thousand from €4,500.

“100% Italian” – 03 December 2015

The State Forestry Corps and the District Anti-Mafia Directorate (DDA) in Italy have uncovered 7,000 tons of olive oil sold as “100% Italian” extra virgin olive oil which were actually a blend of oils from countries such as Syria, Turkey, Morocco and Tunisia. The oil was sold on the Italian and international markets with the illicit turnover estimated to be tens of millions of Euros.

40% down to 5% - 01 December 2015

Scientists from six European countries have conducted a study on fish labelling of fresh, frozen and tinned seafood sold in 19 European cities. It appears that in the past five years, seafood mislabelling in shops has been reduced from almost 40%, five years ago, to just under 5% now. University of Salford’s Professor Stefano Mariani, who lead this study, says that the next step is to examine products sold in restaurants and takeaways where regulations and checks are less strict.

Khesari vs. Arhar dal, would you know the difference? – 30 November 2015

Gurgaon’s health department is still awaiting results on the possibility of adulterated Arhar dal (chick peas) containing the banned Khesari dal. On 26th of November 2015, raids in the poorer market of the city were conducted and it was found likely that the adulteration has been occurring. Khesari dal (also known as Grass Pea) can cause serious harm to the consumers and is easily confused with the safe and edible Arhar dal (Pigeon Pea).

9 Months imprisonment for flour adulteration – 26 November 2015

Rumbek, South Sudan. A man has been sentenced to 9 months imprisonment for selling maize flour mixed with ash at the local market. Authorities have had daily complaints about the poor quality of flour and other foods from the market. The scarcity of food commodities in the country is leaving the markets flooded with adulterated foods.

Adulterated Coconut Oil – 24 November 2015

The Kerala High Court has upheld the ban on the production of certain brands of coconut oil. The Food Safety Department found that certain coconut oil producers were substituting it with palm oil, palm kernel oil and even mineral oil. Some manufacturers have petitioned to challenge the ban, but the court’s responsibilities in safeguarding the consumers’ interests come first.

Administrative Assistance and Cooperation System – 18 November 2015

The European Commission had launched its new IT tool to help member states work together in the fight against food fraud. The new tool aims to facilitate the rapid exchange of information between national authorities working to combat cross-border breaches of food integrity.

Milk fraud on the increase in developing countries - 17 November 2015

A study performed by Queens University Belfast found that milk, being a cheap commodity with a high nutritional value and a good source of protein, has a high risk factor for adulteration in developing countries. The study showed that there are two factors for an increased risk of milk adulteration, one is financial gain and the other is the “ill-informed attempts to improve hygiene conditions”.

Produced in the UK or New Zealand or Australia… - 17 November 2015

The Ulster Farmers’ Union had pointed out that the new European legislation of country of origin labelling for lamb is not being followed. Members have demonstrated lamb found in major retailers which was labelled “produced in the UK, from New Zealand and Australia”. This does not follow the legislation in which the meat needs to have a label with the country of where it was reared and slaughtered.

Spice your dishes with varnish, glue or wall pint? - 13 November 2015

Police in Hyderabad recently started digging into a spices adulteration racket being operated in the wholesale hub of the Begum Bazaar. One of the main operators had been selling tonnes of spices adulterated with harmful chemicals such as red oxide, varnish, glue and wall paint. Upon interrogation, he and his workers admitted to mixing poppy seeds with low quality semolina coloured with a shade of paint and glue added to increase the weight and reselling them in packaging labelled “top quality” and “nature fresh”. These repackaged spices have also been sold to small retail shops around the state and it is the police’s job to identify where they have all gone.

Extra virgin olive oil, one of the highest quality and consequently the most expensive, has been in the Italian press for being substituted for virgin or even standard olive oil by some of its’ major producers. Turin police are investigating seven companies that have been accused of fraudulent behaviour. Carapelli, Bertolli, Santa Sabina, Coricelli, Sasso, Primadonna, and Antica Badia are the famous brands, of which one has stated that they are able to prove that they and an independent company have tested their oils and are confirmed to be in compliance with the quality standards.

Food Fraud Prevention before Diwali - Date: 10 November 2015

Nashik, western India. The FDA is making seizures and collecting samples of many items to check for food fraud before the festival of Diwali. The FDA says that there are many products that can be adulterated by the wholesales and retailers to make greater profits, adding harmful and illegal ingredients and threatening the health and safety of the city’s citizens.

Water for the price of meat - Date: 09 November 2015

The European Consumer Organisation, BEUC, has heavily criticised the meat industry for widespread mislabelling and fraudulent practices. BEUC’s member organisations carried out tests which revealed the severity of the problem. Meat across Europe had labels that failed to declare the percentage of water, failed to state the percentage of meat in the products, contained illegal food additives, undeclared mechanically separated meat and fraudulently substituted different species of meat.

As there is nowhere to stop the vehicles for inspection, Dover appears to be an easy place for smugglers to operate from, stated David Richardson, head of regulatory affairs at the WSTA. Alcoholic beverages made in the UK are taken duty free to the continent and then smuggled back, while others, such as Vodka are easily counterfeited and pose a serious health risk to the public.

Oceana discoveres more seafood fraud in Brussels - November 2015

280 fish samples collected from restaurants and canteens in Brussels who serve our own EU Commission and EU Parliament members. From the information on the menus or requested from the restaurant staff, 31.8% of fish was mislabelled. 98% of Bluefin tuna was wrongly labelled for the more tropical and much cheaper tuna species, 11% of Sole and 13% of cod were substituted for cheaper varieties of fish including pangasius (catfish).

1st Food Integrity Paper Published on Prediction of Food Fraud!

A study by Yamine Bouzembrak and Hans J.P. Marvin using the Bayesian Network (BN) model was conducted using adulteration/fraud notifications as reported in the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF). The aim of the study was to help target enforcement activities using BN modelling as a technique to tackle the identification of food fraud problems.

‘Tis the season for Salmon Fraud – 28 October 2015

Winter time is when wild salmon is out of season, and Oceana’s study in the US showed a significant increase in its mislabelling during this time of year. They collected 466 samples from restaurants and shops and found that 23% of salmon labelled as wild caught or a specific, more expensive, type of salmon was found to be farmed Atlantic salmon of a lower value type.

Ghana’s Palm Oil Problem – 27 October 2015

Ghana’s Food and Drug Authority (FDA) has confiscated large quantities of adulterated palm oil while the Drug Law Enforcement Unit of the police service has arrested 22 traders of this oil. The oil has been found to contain illegal ingredients such as Sudan III and Sudan IV, in order to produce a richer colour which is more appealing to potential customers. The traders will be charged under the Public Health Act 851 of 2012 which prohibits adulteration of food items for retail, since the dyes used are not intended for food and have a potential of endangering public health and safety.

World's most expensive beef in a $5 (£3.20) burger. – 23 October 2015

In the Japanese language, "Wa" means Japanese and "gyu" means cow. The quality and flavour of Wagyu beef has been recognized as premium around the world, which is why a well-marbled 200g steak in some of the world's top restaurants can set you back as much as $200 - or more. Consumers and producers alike have been worried about the full-blood Wagyu beef not being the real thing, especially when it’s sold at the cost of $5 (£3.20) per burger around South East Asia. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said it was concerned that products being labelled Wagyu were in fact derived from crossbred cattle, and that this "may have the potential to mislead consumers into thinking that the beef is derived from the (full-blood Japanese) Wagyu breed of cattle".

“William Wallace, that well-known Argentinean.” – 23rd October 2015

Scotch Whisky Association’s (SWA) senior legal counsel, Alan Park, has recently trawled Argentina’s supermarkets in search of fake Scotch whisky brands. He says found the whisky market fairly clean in Argentina, bar one product, which the SWA established to be unacceptable for sale due to the likelihood of its trademark deceiving the customers. It was a whisky branded William Wallace, “that well known Argentinean” as Mr Park names it. Scotch whisky is worth close to £4 billion to the Scottish economy and many countries are looking to cash in on the profits. China, being one of the fastest growing markets in the word, had a total of 31 trademark infringements around whisky fought over in 2014, while its’ nearest rival in this was the USA with only 13.

In the state of Tamil Nadu, southern India, there have been raids conducted on jaggery manufacturing units, in which products were seized and destroyed. Jaggery is a traditional cane or palm sap sugar widely consumed in Asia, which was being adulterated inn these units by sodium hydroxide, bleaching power, sulphuric acid, maida, milk powder and other raw materials.

Horsegate Continues - 08 October 2015

Twelve people have been detained and questioned in the south of France as part of an investigation into a European horsemeat trafficking ring. Those arrested, including veterinarians and a local government official, are suspected of falsifying documents for horses deemed unfit for human consumption. Meat from horses used in laboratory procedures and ones taken from equestrian clubs, whose documents and microchips were altered, was being sold in the two butcher shops of one of the arrestees well as passed onto other European retailers.

Bowl mix up in a Leeds takeaway – 08 October 2015

An owner of the Leeds takeaway restaurant the Al Naseeb Balti House pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay costs of £2,875 for an offense under the Food Safety Act 1990. During a routine inspection by the West Yorkshire Trading Standards, officers ordered a lamb curry from the takeaway’s menu and upon analysis found it to be beef. During his interview, the owner, Mr. Sikandar Mahmood, stated that the bowls of the two meats were mixed up by accident.

Fake French Wine in China - 08 October 2015

"For every real bottle of French wine in China, there is at least one counterfeit bottle of French wine, and the situation is only getting worse. It's enormous," says the former president of the The Comité National des Conseillers du Commerce Extérieur de la France (CNCCEF), who have recently leaked a report into the Chinese wine counterfeiting industry. China’s rapid growth as a wine market and loose intellectual property laws have made it a target for fakes. CNCCEF’s investigation reveals that the fake wine market in China is not just the work of a few small criminal rings, its rather a sizeable underground industry that is deteriorating French Wine sales significantly since 2014.

Narkena Pty Ltd pleaded guilty to labelling charges - 04 October 2015

After a tragic death of a ten year old boy in 2013 due to anaphylactic shock from drinking a mislabelled coconut drink, the importer, Narkena Pty Ltd, pleaded guilty to three labelling charges. The Green Time Natural Coconut Drink which could be purchased from many small independent supermarkets in Australia contained an undeclared allergen (milk). The investigation into the boy’s death lead to a recall of several other coconut drinks and powders which failed to comply with product labelling laws. The importer will be sentenced at the end of October 2015.

"1 Venison, chips and salad; 1 Horse, chips and salad" is not what you want to see on the order ticket when you order the Zebra and Wildebeest Steak Meals. That is precisely what occurred in The Steakhouse in Watford, when customers as well as trading standards officers ordered the exotic meats. The following month, the officers returned to find 22kg of horse meat in the freezer, despite Horse not being on the restaurant’s menu. Despite his claims of having made a mistake, the restaurant owner was fined £3,860.78 and given a 12 month suspended sentence following a trial.

Supplements with fillers - Date: 10 September 2015

An owner of the dietary supplement maker Raw Deal Inc. was sentenced to over 3 years in federal prison for instructing employees to add “fillers,” such as maltodextrin, viobin cocoa replacer and rice flours, to the dietary ingredients and supplements sold to customers. He also admitted to directing Raw Deal employees not to list the “fillers” as ingredients on certificates of analysis issued to its customers. The department of Justice in the US states that there will be an increased vigilance around such fraudulent behaviour in the supplement business.

Guilty of Halal Meats Fraud - Date: 09 September 2015

Midamar Corp. and Islamic Services of America entered guilty pleas on conspiring to export misbranded beef products for sale in Malaysia, Indonesia and elsewhere. Both companies entered into a plea agreement and one stated that this agreement resolves them of all charges against the companies and their executives.

Takeaways or Fakeaways? - Date: 03 Sep 2015

Derbyshire County Council’s trading standards tested pizzas from 15 fast food outlets to find five had replaced ham with turkey, eight had a mix of cheese and cheese substitute and most had high levels of salt. The undeclared substitutions of meat as well as cheese substitute is considered to be an offence under the Food Safety Act, by which the bosses of these restaurants could face prosecution.

A supermarket’s war on food fraud - Date: 02 Sep 2015

Supermarket giant, Marks & Spencer, has stated that they will be switching to performing unannounced audits to the majority of their food suppliers to further strengthen their supply chain and ensure the integrity of the food they supply. The switch to unannounced audits has been encouraged by Queen University’s Professor Chris Elliott, as part of the consultation with the supermarket as well as in his report following the horsemeat scandal. The retailer’s director of food technology, Paul Willgoss, said that their supplier-base has embraced these audits and looks forward to them leaning together to see what will work.

Got Milk? - Date: 02 September 2015

The rapid food price inflation in Russia seen since the beginning of the sanctions had also seen fraudulent behaviour on the increase. Stefan Duerr, president of EkoNiva, notes that milk is in short supply in Russia, but there is a surplus of milk on the market. He stated that this is only possible by dairy producers bolstering their supplies with vegetable oils and selling it as all milk.

Lamb mince containing 80% Beef - Date: 31 Aug 2015

Directors of the supermarket which supplied lamb mince to restaurants and takeaways in Manchester have been fined £20’000 after being found guilty of food fraud. As part of an inspection across the city in 2014, their lamb mince was found to be made almost entirely of cheap beef. After several warnings from the environmental health officers, the store had a 3rd visit where it was found that the products sold as lamb mince still contained 50% beef and 1% chicken, hence the directors are not only fined but also ordered to pay £1,676 costs and a £120 victims of crime surcharge.

Australian Seafood Labelling - Date: 29 Aug 2015

In Australia, seafood consumption has doubled in the past 40 years and more than 70 % of Australian consumers prefer local seafood to the imports. Unfortunately for them, the bill that was meant to reveal whether the food consumed in a restaurant, pub or takeaway is local or not has been rejected by the Senate.

Chapman University has published two meat labelling studies, one for ground meats and the other in game meat. The game meat study found that 10 out of the 54 commercial game meat were mislabelled. Six of those ten meats were mislabelled for economic gain, as the retail prices for the game meat was nearly double in certain cases to the meat that was sold. The minced meat study revealed that samples from online distributors had a higher rate of being mislabelled (35%) compared to those from a local butcher or the supermarket.

Quiet Summer 2015 - Date: 21 Aug 2015

NAS, Italy’s food fraud police hade inspected over 600 sited across the country this year and found that 45% of them have been disregarding the law. Hundreds of bottles of fake champagne, hundreds of kilograms of improperly frozen fish and meats as well as thousands of bottles of wine have been seized. Italy’s Health Minister said that the operation was a good effort to fight against food safety issues as well as safeguard the ‘Made in Italy’ brand. In total, the Ministry of health discovered 23 tonnes of contraband and closed 17 venues.

Food fraud all over the world (Date: 20 Aug 2015)

The International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) has held another annual meeting of food safety professionals and discussed the growing problems of food fraud. It had been noted that there is an increase in high-profile food fraud cases such as the 100,000 tons of smuggled, frozen, some decades old meat being sold for consumption in China, the substitution of peanuts for walnuts when the crops failed as well as the use of illegal dyes in products in South Africa.

Seafood traceability tool (Date: 19 Aug 2015)

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has been developing and undertaking trials of a new seafood traceability tool. The increasing incidents of seafood fraud where non-sustainable species are passed of as sustainable have prompted the certification body to explore new avenues in ensuring additional protection of seafood. DNA testing of MSC labelled products shoes that 99% are correctly labelled and the organisation wishes to ensure it stays that way.

Alphin Brothers Inc: Guilty - Date: 11 Aug 2015

North Carolina-based seafood processor and wholesale distributor Alphin Brothers Inc., was found to be in violation of the Lacey Act and was sentenced in federal court for falsely labelling imported shrimp. The Lacey Act is a federal law making it illegal to make or submit any false record, account, or label for, or any false identification of, any fish or wildlife that has been or is intended to be imported, transported, purchased or received from any foreign country, or transported in interstate or foreign commerce. Alphin Brothers Inc. have been ordered to pay a fine on $100,000, forfeit thousands of pounds of shrimp and serve three years of probation.

Plastic Rice in the Philippines - 10 August 2015

Rice makes up over 20% of the world dietary energy, beating both wheat and maize. Last month, in the Philippines, a consumer submitted a suspicious sample to authorities. GCMS analysis found that the rice grain was made from potato, sweet potato and a toxic plasticiser (Dibutyl Phthalate).

SAFE Consortium Position Paper - 05 Aug 2015

The European Association for Food Safety has produced another position paper in which it identifies five topics as focuses to resolve the challenges of increased population, restricted resources and climate change/environmental sustainability:1. Safety for innovative manufacturing processes2. Safely reducing waste3. Safe valorization of by-products into foods4. Chemical and biological food safety including toxins and contaminants5. Traceable, safe, authentic products for consumer confidence

Cheap alcohol? – Probably with reason. - 04 Aug 2015

Cheshire Police, Trading Standards and the HMRC uncovered 130,000 litres of fake vodka at an industrial estate in Widnes. The health and safety of anyone drinking this alcohol would have been endangered as the distilling conditions are unregulated, while the unpaid duty on the alcohol would be worth around £1.7m.

India’s Food Adulteration Stats - 04 Aug 2015

According to the central government reports of the last year, around 20% of all food samples analysed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India were either adulterated or misbranded. FSSAI has lodged 1,989 criminal and 7,241 civil cases, while Maggi, Monster and Could 9 products are on the list of companies with no-objection certificates removed.

Meat Adulteration in Auchan Supermarkets - 04 Aug 2015

Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance in Russia found that 15 of 17 samples taken during an unscheduled inspection of four Auchan supermarkets contained traces of other meats in products labelled as beef or pork.

Bacteria: The Barcode of Cheese - 28 Jul 2015

Five years of research concluded with the finding of a naturally occurring bacteria found/ added in milk to produce the Appenzeller Cheese. Though every authentic wheel already had a certificate, this special bacteria provide an extra proof of authenticity of this product.

Would you add some olive or myrtle leaves to your pizza? - 23 July 2015

Although olive and myrtle leaves can be used in cooking, they are not the things you expect to be in the spice packet labelled ‘OREGANO’. Prof Chris Elliott of the Global Institute of Food Security stated that much of the ability to conduct food fraud lies in the complexity of the food chain. The team performed the tests on 78 samples, of which 19 were adulterated and some contained up to 70% other ingredients. Consumer group Which? Has shared its’ results with the Food Standards Agency, who’s already been investigating spice adulteration due to recent undeclared allergen concerns.

Marie Curie Fellowships at the University of Lisbon

The Foundation of the Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon (FFCUL), informs that it is available to receive candidates applying to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships call (European Fellowships and Global Fellowships with FFCUL as host institution). Deadline: September 10, 2015 at 17h00 (Brussels time).

FFCUL acts as the front institution of several research units, in particular:

CFTC: Its general goal is the investigation of the non-linear response of classical and quantum fluids to external fields using techniques ranging from analytical theories to numerical simulations of coarse- grained models. http://cftc.cii.fc.ul.pt/

CMAF-CIO: its main purpose is to develop quality research in several areas of Pure and Applied Mathematics. http://cmaf.ptmat.fc.ul.pt/

CEMAT: The main purpose of CEMAT is to engage in high quality research and advanced studies in fundamental, computational and stochastic mathematics. http://cemat.fc.ul.pt/

IA: Its research includes most of the topics at the forefront of research in Astrophysics and Space Sciences complemented by work on instrumentation and systems. http://iastro.pt

CFCUL: Its research activities are chiefly devoted to: Unity of Science and Interdisciplinary; Epistemology and Methodology; Philosophy of Natural Sciences; Philosophy of Life Sciences; Philosophy of Technology; Philosophy of Human Sciences, Ethics and Policy; Science and Art. http://cfcul.fc.ul.pt/

CQB: Our research lays in the frontiers of synthesis, new materials and reactivity; biochemistry and biomedicine; molecular and systems modeling; analytical chemistry, to meet societal challenges in health and environment. http://cqb.fc.ul.pt/

CIUHCT: This Unit promotes research on the history of science and technology along the following lines: 1) Instruments and Practices, Visual and Material Cultures, and 2) Experts, Institutions and Globalization. http://ciuhct.org/en

CESAM: The Lisbon research group is focused on investigating adaptive trade-offs in wildlife populations and the ecological and evolutionary processes arising from local and global-scale changes in environmental conditions. http://www.cesam.ua.pt

Eligible researchers: Experienced researchers with a PhD or with at least 4 years of full-time research experience, complying with the mobility rules of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions.

The deadline for submitting applications is September 10, 2015.

For further information, interested researchers should consult the call documents available in the Participant Portal.All interested researchers should contact the International projects office at FFCUL:- Lívia Moreira: lmdmoreira@fc.ul.pt

Fighting food fraud - Blog - 13 July 2015

Food fraud has been in the news quite often, especially since the horsemeat scandal of two years ago. Jonathan Spencer, the senior lecturer in criminal justice and Director of the Criminal Justice Research Unit at The University of Manchester examines the complexity of the networks of actors within the supply chain.

Pig blood coloured chicken - 06 July 2015

Fast rising beef prices in China have opened the market for some inventive fraud. Su Cheng Foodstuffs Co in the affluent city of Changzhou has been investigated for colouring chicken and pork with “additives” and pig blood and selling it as beef. Across wet markets and supermarkets in the HeHai District, only a small number of samples actually contained traces of beef.

FishSCALE - 14 July 2015

In June 2015, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded one of its innovation awards to FDA’s Fish SCALE (Seafood Compliance and Labelling Enforcement) project for transitioning the FDA toward new DNA barcoding. Several teams collaborated to standardize, validate, and publish a protocol for DNA barcoding for fish species which was then then implemented throughout the agency. Fish SCALE has also been working on the crustaceans, but the data has not yet been published. A reference library of DNA sequences for commercial fish, shrimp, crab and lobster species is also being developed.

Spicy Salmonella - 09 July 2015

Over 150 people have been reported in the outbreak of Salmonella which started in December. The Swedish public health agency traced the outbreak to the Allkrydda spice mix originating from Serbia. More than half of the patients were affected after having eaten at a restaurant known to use this spice. The Swedish food agency has confirmed that incidents are spread across the country and certain manufacturers and distributors have withdrawn the products.

Bear or Beaver? - 08 July 2015

Speciality meat market in the US has an estimated value of $39 million and DNA testing of these game meats shows a very profitable substitution fraud. The fraudulent substitution of game meat has the possibility to introduce endangered species into the food chain and disrupt conservations efforts, says Charles Quinto of Chapman University. Though, neither species is endangered, one of the more bizarre substitutions has been of American beaver meat sold labelled as black bear.

Ospitalita Italiana - 06 July 2015

Has every Italian restaurant you’ve been to, had at least one person that can communicate in Italian? Did they offer you PDO/PGI olive oil and extra virgin olive oil? What was the percentage of traditional Italian recipes and ingredients on the menu? These questions can now be answered by the Golden Q for true Italian Quality awarded by Ospitalita Italiana. A worldwide project conceived by the Italian Republic’s institution Unioncamere with the support of IS.NA.R.T. and the Italian Chambers of Commerce abroad, Ospitalita Italiana is a new step in prevention of food fraud in restaurants. This brings into question the possible need for this scheme to encompass more than just Italian restaurants.

Several fish oil supplements that could be purchased online and in certain shops in Norway have been found to contain high levels of dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The Norwegian Food Safety Authority has recommended customers cease consumption and dispose of the products. All of the products were found to be an alternative to the standard cod liver oil; they contained chimaeras, a deep water predator who is a close relative of the shark. As the contaminants accumulate in the food chain, there is a probability of bioaccumulation in these fish which would explain the results. The National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research (NIFES) have been conducting this research for the past 15 years and this is the first time they have had positive results. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority emphasised that fish oils like cod liver oil were safe to consume.

How well do you know your risotto rice? - 02 July 2015

As a result of a poor risotto rice harvest two years ago, the prices of risotto rice have risen from £289 per tonne in 2013 to £723 per tonne last year. This has opened the market to fraudulent substitution of the more expensive Arborio rice for a cheaper Ribe rice variety. The rice varieties are very difficult to tell apart, therefore it is likely that buyers are unaware of the substitution.

Food science innovators urged to claim grants worth €3m

The EU-wide FOODINTEGRITY project, co-ordinated by Fera Science Limited (Fera), is urging academics, research firms, SMEs and industry to come up with innovative research projects to help fight food fraud – and qualify for a share of €3m in EU funding.

The grants are available to consortia with research and development ideas in four, key areas, each of which complement work currently being undertaken under the FOODINTEGRITY programme. These include:

• the standardisation and harmonisation of untargeted food integrity methods• innovative approaches to assure the integrity of complex foods• a feasibility study of how information can be shared along the supply chain to identify risks to the integrity of food; and• rapid, on-site, cost-effective methods for feed and food fraud detection.

Paul Brereton, FOODINTEGRITY co-ordinator and Head of Agri-Food Research, at Fera, said: “As ‘horsegate’ and similar scandals underlined, providing assurance to consumers and other stakeholders about the safety, authenticity and quality of food is of vital importance to the UK and wider European agri-food economy.

“We know that food fraud is still happening on a massive scale. In the last 6 months alone data collected and analysed by Fera* has found more than 200 incidents of reported food fraud, from the ‘wine’ that contained no grapes, to ‘finest’ honey that was clearly old and poor quality. Other examples include undeclared soya and wheat in almonds, faked famous brand beers, sugar added to ‘no added sugar’ drinks and mislabelling for a range of produce, including hazelnut oil and pork.

“So, Fera is developing cutting edge technologies to assure food provenance as well as verify labelling claims for a wide range of products from wine, oils and fats to Manuka honey. It is also leading ground breaking research into developing systems that will anticipate food fraud, for example what will the impact of failed harvests in one part of the world on the risk of food fraud in another

“But we now want innovative research proposals from the international research community, to work with us in developing methods and systems to assure the supply chain and protect consumers against food fraud.”

Maggi Noodles: Fast to Cook! Good to Eat! Contain safe levels of Lead - 01 July 2015

The UK Food Standards Agency has confirmed that Nestlé’s Maggi Noodles contain levels of lead that are well within EU permissible levels. Officials stated that around 900 samples were tested including variants from India, and none were found to have high levels of lead. Recently, Nestlé was ordered by Indian authorities to pull thousands of noodle packets from retail saying that they contained high levels of lead and undeclared monosodium glutamate. Just before the order, a recall and destroy was called for 400 million noodle packets which will cost the company $50 million in sales.

Italy’s scam with ham - 29 June 2015

A basement filled with Polish meat, packaging materials and counterfeit labels (including ones titled “Seasoned Italian Parma Ham”) was discovered in Villaricca, near Naples. Two persons were arrested and charged with food fraud and a variety of other health and safety violations. Italy’s cured meats with EU quality labels of PDO and PGI are worth up to €20 million to the Italian economy. The Italian fraud organisation states that € 143 million of fraudulent meat was seized in the year 2014.The authorities are attempting to discern whether any of the mislabelled Polish meat had been sold.

Organic with Pesticides? - 26 June 2015

26.5 % mislabelled meat products along with 12.5% of “bio” or “organic” foods not meeting the required standards is what France’s DGCCRF has discovered. Warnings, correction orders and offences were issued to the various providers of the 2’802 products tested along with 4 shops being threatened with closure. DGCCRF found that some of the samples were contaminated with illegal and harmful pesticides, while the meat products such as sausages, salami and kebabs have been found to contain mislabelled pork (11% of cases), chicken (5%) and horsemeat (3%).

FoodIntegrity €3M call for New Research on Food Fraud

The FoodIntegrity consortium has launched €3M call for New Research on Food Fraud with the deadline on 14th August 2015. For full open call information visit www.foodintegrity.eu/procurement

FSA’s Annual Report sees a spike in fraud numbers - 10 June 2015

Since the Horsemeat Scandal, according to the UK Food Standards Agency 2013-2014 report, they have seen a 3 fold increase of counterfeiting incidents compared to reports between 2006 and 2012. In total, there have been 1,645 incidents of food, feed and environmental contamination incidents in the UK last year, 121 of those were the use of unauthorised ingredients in nutritional, body building and diet food supplements, many of which originated in the USA.

Manuka Honey: Pot of gold for criminals - 19 June 2015

The popularity and scientific studies of Manuka honey as well as its limited regional production makes it an attractive substance for fraud. Comtiva, New Zealand’s largest Manuka honey seller, had reported record earnings in the last month, while the cost of the product stays at around NZ$75 (€45) per kilogram. According to Mitchell Weinberg, CEO of Inscatech, it is likely that around 60% of the Manuka honey sold globally could be fake or adulterated.

FVO audits find serious problems with lack of traceability in meat imported into the EU - 22 June 2015

Canadian law allows Testosterone to be administered to horses for food production within 180 days prior to slaughter, while articles 4 and 5 of the Council Directive 96/22/EC prohibit it. FVO states that many of the rules for authorization and use of veterinary medicines for horses are different in Canada and the US from those in the EU, and the lack of horse identification and their traceability is cause for serious concern. The broader audit findings indicate that there has been a decline of imported meat products from Canada to the EU from 2010, but HSI has now called for a suspension on all horsemeat imports from Canada.

Results of the Food Integrity Scientific Gap Analysis

More detailed information on the procedure for participation can be found here

FOODINTEGRITY Project: Olive Oil Survey

The European Project FoodIntegrity (www.foodintegrity.eu) is conducting a research to understand the current problems and sensitivities of the olive oil market. A series of questions is presented aiming to obtain your opinion, in a free and anonymous way, about aspects related to quality, traceability, regulation, standard methods and other issues. Please remember we are seeking your opinions and there are no right or wrong answers.

Representatives from government agencies, enforcement bodies, laboratories and industry feature in the programme which is designed to demonstrate the importance of measurement in the fight against fraud, and ensuring food authenticity and safety.

Video: Paul Brereton talks about the FoodIntegrity project

An article where Paul Brereton, co-ordinator of the FoodIntegrity discusses the project following his presentation at the ASSETT conference in Belfast in April 2014, can be found at the following link http://www.selectscience.net/videos/SSci_ED14_FFF_001_Paul_Brereton_V1.mp4

Paul Brereton BBC Radio 4 Interview 3 March 2014

BBC Radio 4 Programme You and Yours interview Paul Brereton from the Food and Environment Research Agency about the new €12M FoodIntegrity research project, funded by the European Commission, that was launched in York last week to develop new methods to detect food fraud.

Tweet #FoodIntegrityEU

MEPs and ministers agree to beef up official food checks from farm to fork

Draft plans to tighten up official controls from farm to fork were informally agreed by food safety MEPs and the Dutch Presidency of the Council on Wednesday. It aims to guarantee that the food consumers buy and eat in Europe is safe and wholesome, hence improving consumer’s health and preventing food crises.

Second horse meat scandal could happen because of lack of routine testing, experts warn

A second horse meat scandal could be taking place in Britain because food is not being routinely tested, a Government food advisor and academics have warned.

Salvarani Elahi, the Deputy Government Chemist, said criminals could now make greater profits from selling fraudulent food than illegal drugs, and warned that regulators were being hampered by suspected corrupt scientists passing information on testing techniques to fraudsters.

FoodIntegrity Spirit Drinks Authentication Seminar May 26th 2015

The Seminar is being held at the Scotch Whisky Research Institute, Riccarton, Edinburgh, on Tuesday 26th May.

To know more details about the seminar, you can download the flyer clicking here.

Research Priorities and Calls

FI Procurement exercise

After a meeting of experts to prioritise the topic ideas into actual call texts of research projects with indicative budgets and project durations, the call texts are now available in draft format, (it will remain draft until we have final approval from the Commission).

Assuring the integrity of the food chain - Bilbao March 2015

FoodIntegrity Newsletter 01

Welcome to the first edition of the FoodIntegrity Newsletter. The aim is to provide you with a brief update on some of the progress on this multifaceted project and let you know how you can get involved.

Please find a downloadable version of the newsletter available at the link below:-

The 2nd FoodIntegrity conference "Assuring the integrity of the food chain: food authenticity research priorities and funding opportunities" will take place in Bilbao on 26-27 March 2015. http://www.azti.es/foodintegrity

The 1 ½ day conference will:

• Present the latest research outputs from the FoodIntegrity project:- A European expert network on food authenticity- A European knowledgebase on analytical methodology and databases for food authenticity- Chinese consumer attitudes to European products- The development of an Early Warning System for predicting food fraud- Identifying gaps in present research

• Establish how researchers can apply to access the 2015 FoodIntegrity research calls

• Bring together national funding bodies to establish priorities for transnational funding

Commission publishes results of retail food study

The European Commission has unveiled the results of a comprehensive study about the evolution of choice and innovation in food products in Europe during the last decade. The results show that the entry of new competitors always increases choice and innovation. In many Member States, retail markets are not overly concentrated, and the retailers' bargaining power does not seem to have a negative impact on choice and innovation. Finally, while choice for European citizens has continuously increased in shops since 2004, the number of innovations reaching the consumer each year has decreased since 2008 largely due to the economic crisis. The Commission is inviting stakeholders to submit their comments on the study results.

Fishy findings in chip shop tests

Consumer organisation Which? reports on authenticity testing of fish. "We tested 45 samples of fish labelled cod or haddock bought from random fish and chip shops in Birmingham, Glasgow and Manchester. We found around one in six (16%) were mislabelled, with some of the samples being substituted for cheaper fish."

Assuring the Integrity of the Food Chain

The week-long series of events on food authenticity marks the start of the €12M FoodIntegrity project. Funded by the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme, and comprising 38 international partners from industry, academia and government institutes, FoodIntegrity will address many of the post-horsemeat issues at a European level.

More than 200 delegates from around the world have registered for the event.

FoodIntegrity Kick Off Meeting

The first meeting of the FoodIntegrity consortium was held at the Food and Environment Research Agency on 25th-26th February 2014.

YorNight Flyer

European Researchers’ Night is a mega event taking place on the 26 September in 300 cities across Europe. It will show that research is fun and influences daily life for all of us. YorNight is York’s contribution to this event, and gives you the opportunity to delve into the exciting and important research happening in York.

Come along to venues throughout the city centre to experience the wealth of research taking place in the city, chat to researchers and take part in hands on activities. Perfect for all ages, there will be plenty of activities, from games and experiments to talks and exhibitions. There has never been a better chance to join the exciting world of research!

This study presents the results of the validation process of the MEAT 5.0 Low Cost and Density (LCD) Array kit for species identification in food carried out, for the first time, following the Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (SWGDAM) recommendations. This is also the first time that the MEAT 5.0 LCD Array kit has been applied to identify animal species in milk.

Highlights- Performance evaluation of LCD Array kit for forensic science to detect food fraud- Validation following Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods guidelines- High specificity and sensitivity of the kit both for meat and milk matrices- Satisfactory performance also on processed food- Good performance also for processed food

Published on Food Control (2017) Vol. 78, p. 366-373

Submitted by Maestri - FoodIntegrity correspondent

FoodIntegrity

‘The state of being whole, entire, or undiminished or in perfect condition’